The Case of the Mysterious Standing Eggs on Duanwu Festival

Finally we did it! After years of missing this attempt at noon on Duanwu Festival aka Dragon Boat aka Dumpling Festival this is the first time we actually remembered and got not one but all three raw eggs to stand. As usual I had the G11 handy to capture this unscientific phenomenon whose legend has survived generations. If you’re skeptical and try to see if props had been used to make the eggs stand, don’t bother — these photos are as raw as the eggs themselves. We left the eggs to stand at the open patio to fetch the kids from school, the entire time uncertain if the breeze would push them over. When we returned, Jamie and Jewel were surprised to see all three still standing.

Dumpling Festival a much celebrated festival by the Chinese community in Belait

The very first attempt filled with uncertainty and silliness had it failed to work.

Beginner’s luck? After my wife got the first egg to stand, she went on with a second egg …

… and finally stopping at auspicious number 3 before it was time to pick the kids up from school.

DUMPLING FESTIVAL 2009

Dumpling Festival or Duan Wu Jie is a widely celebrated festival among the Chinese community around the world. It is to remember and pay respect to the patriotic poet, Qu Yuan. One of a number of versions of The Dumpling Festival story goes like this:

In the Kingdom of Chu in ancient China, Qu Yuan was an important minister. He loved his country greatly and is well known for his loyalty towards the emperor of Chu. However, the emperor of Chu had not taken Qu Yuan’s advice seriously and made Quan Yuan an exile of the Kingdom of Chu. The emperor of Chu eventually got himself trapped and captured in a foreign land by his enemies, which eventually led to his death. Sad and angry at the corrupted, dying Kingdom, Qu Yuan threw himself into the River of Mi Luo. The people then made rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and threw them into the river. They believed this would stop the fish from feeding on Qu Yuan’s body . Some would even row down stream in a boat, beating drums and shouting out loud in hope to scare the fish away (it was believed that it is how the Dragon Boat event is related to the festival)

Since then, the Duan Wu Festival is set on the 5th day of the 5th month annually to remember the incident. Although there were many versions of legends and stories  that indicate Duan Wu existed way before Qu Yuan’s death, the tradition still carries on.

Whatever the belief, thankfully our generation of beach goers believe in having fun instead of chucking dumplings into the sea! This isn’t to say that they’ve forgotten about the tradition. Far from that in fact when it came to carrying out tradition year after year, die hard politically correct beach goers worked up an appetite to chuck their friends into the sea instead! They know not to waste delicious dumplings or be completely inconsiderate and pollute the water.

DUMPLING FESTIVAL 2008 |  DUMPLING FESTIVAL 2007

→ <a href=”http://shimworld.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/dumpling-festival-an-annual-breeze/&#8221; rel=”nofollow”>DUMPLING FESTIVAL. AN ANNUAL BREEZE.</a>→ <a href=”http://shimworld.wordpress.com/2007/06/19/dumpling-festival-a-big-day-out/&#8221; rel=”nofollow”>DUMPLING FESTIVAL. A BIG DAY OUT.</a>

DUMPLING FESTIVAL. AN ANNUAL BREEZE.

It was just a year ago yesterday that Seria and Kuala Belait residents celebrated the Dumpling Festival (more accurately called the Dragon Boat Festival). As I have in the previous post described the Chinese tradition in an easy to digest manner (easier to digest than the rice dumplings, that is), I’ll skip the reminder and head straight to the pictures. Like the previous year, I chose the same stretch of sand right off the Billionth Barrel Monument, an icon that no doubt you’re familiar by now, even if you’re not from this neck of the woods. It was also from one of last year’s beach images that was selected by DST for their EASI Pre-Paid phone cards. Unlike last year, however, my kids decided to stay home in favour of Club Penguin and just as well they didn’t come coz unlike last year, our parade got rained on. So this year, my associate Anthony, yes the Nikon D3 dude you may have read about in the recent Lexus Golf Classic post, and I combed the sand with my EOS 5D and 17-40mm (the RED strap made its public debut)!

Nothing like a celebration with a declaration of love to kick it off. Came across this cryptic “1026″ with two hearts. You’re more than welcome to decode this and let me know what you think it means.

© Jan Shim Photography

There was a time sea breeze was thought to bring health benefits and you would often find the elderly along the beach in the evenings soaking up what’s left of the setting sun. These days it’s unusual to catch them strolling on the beach anymore but instead you get a number of regular joggers and couples enjoying he fleeting moments before them. Below, an elderly gentleman sat alone on one of many washed up logs as more people began populating the beach.

© Jan Shim Photography

I’ll admit this. Yesterday was the first time I’d seen an actual dumpling that appeared to have been washed up or one that got left behind by accident. Regardless, people seemed oblivious to this lone item and kids were far too busy running after one another while a mom with her youngest kid kept a watchful eye on her other two kids. There were pockets of fun everywhere from adults to kids soaked in sea water and mothers keeping their kids entertained.

 
© Jan Shim Photography

A group of young foreign workers can often be seen in my neighbourhood like this but not at the beach. Yesterday was an exception and over the years, the Dumpling Festival has become such an integral part of the Seria and Kuala Belait experience that a large proportion of the non Chinese and expatriate community enjoy the ambience. I only wish it’s like this every other day! After all the beach is public property and there’s really no reason we cannot make our reasonably clean beaches a part of our life style.

© Jan Shim Photography

© Jan Shim Photography

© Jan Shim Photography

© Jan Shim Photography

Here’s Anthony chimping his Nikon D3 to a group of young crowd whom he had fired off a few shots of. I must say, the large 3.0 inch 922,000-pixel LCD is actually useful for critical viewing. It’s one feature I hope to see on the imminent EOS 5D successor.

© Jan Shim Photography

In the absence of dumplings, you can always have a buddy thrown out to the sea. Unorthodox yes but not unheard of.

© Jan Shim Photography

© Jan Shim Photography

Moments before Anthony and I got hit by drops of rain as we made our way to the car park, no sooner had we decided it was wise to leave before we got soaked, intimidating cloud formation was tell-tale sign that it is not going to clear up any time soon.

© Jan Shim Photography

You never know who you might run into on this stretch. I ran into non other than Award winning blogger, Miss SPIRITUAL GARDEN herself in the flesh along with her best mates in this exclusive WIDESCREEN capture of her larger-than-life persona and with their matching wide grins! As Dumpling Festival is commonly called Dragon Boat Festival elsewhere in the world, check out Nonnie’s post on this occasion—no Dragon Boats in sight but plenty of splashes all the same!

© Jan Shim Photography

Within a stone’s throw from the Billionth Barrel Monument is an massive drilling operation that towers over the otherwise large nodding donkey. Quite the contrast between the serene beach and heavy equipment.

© Jan Shim Photography

Check out the Dumpling Festival 2008 Flash Gallery that contains additional pictures not posted here.

I used to bring my trusty EOS 20D and EFs 10-22mm for non-work occasions but this time, I decided the 5D and EF 17-40mm would be more appropriate but only gained a few mm’s in the long end. The resolution, clarity, colours and sharpness of this combination is noticeably better too! The difference in quality between an L and non-L lens can at times be quite glaring and this seems to be one of those times!